Chapter 690: Great Demon 53

What future could a Cultivator with a Heart Demon possibly have? Besides, from this day forward, the story of how Shi Miao killed her husband to prove her Dao would surely spread far and wide. How could she ever show her face in public again?

’For someone as proud as Shi Miao, this must be the hardest thing to accept,’ Shi Qi thought. His gaze held a trace of pity. Having such a fanatical mother was a burden for him as well.

Shi Miao lay there in a pool of her own blood, her gaze drifting up to the Qing Ming snake holding the hilt of the Bloodthirsty Sword in its mouth. Her eyes gradually lost focus.

"Shui Yue..."

"Shui Yue?" Tan You’s ears twitched slightly. "The moon in the water? How stupid. Didn’t she realize what that name implied?"

Bai Ze also raised an eyebrow slightly. "Who knows? Qing Ming, come back."

Qing Ming opened his mouth, and the shattered hilt of the Bloodthirsty Sword fell with a CLATTER beside Shi Miao. He hadn’t taken Shi Miao’s life; he had merely defeated her in front of everyone.

And this was far harder for her to accept than death.

She had always prided herself on her profound cultivation, a leading figure of her generation. But now, she had been defeated by a Half-demon she once looked down upon. The immense gap between her pride and her reality was enough to drive Shi Miao insane.

Especially when she realized that killing her husband to prove her Dao, the act she had been so proud of, had been nothing but a complete setup. At the thought, Shi Miao coughed up another mouthful of blood. Looking at the broken sword that had landed beside her, Shi Miao struggled to grasp it in her hand.

Then, as Shi Qi’s eyes widened in horror and Shi Yuan let out a piercing scream, Shi Miao unhesitatingly plunged the Bloodthirsty Sword into her own Dantian.

Shi Yuan rushed over. "Mother..."

She tried in vain to plug the wound in Shi Miao’s Dantian, but could only watch helplessly as it shattered piece by piece, and her cultivation plummeted, falling from the Body Integration Realm, through Divinity Transformation, Nascent Soul, Golden Core, and beyond.

Finally, Shi Miao’s cultivation was completely gone, and her face, once appearing to be in her twenties or thirties, instantly aged into that of a wrinkled old crone. But how could Shi Miao possibly care about such things at a time like this? She just kept dazedly chanting, "Shui Yue..."

"Mother, don’t leave me..." Shi Yuan cried and screamed. If Shi Miao was gone, she would truly have no family left.

Shi Miao couldn’t hear any of it. She just stared dazedly at the sky. Tan You suddenly laughed. "That Jing Yue... he really is something else. No wonder she was able to commit an act as unnatural as killing her husband to prove her Dao and still cultivate all the way to the Body Integration Realm."

Old Niu was particularly sharp. "You mean, she was genuinely in love with Jing Yue back then? And the Heavenly Dao acknowledged it?"

"Mhm. Perhaps back then, she was concerned about his Demon Clan identity and was too ashamed to admit her feelings. Now that she knows Jing Yue’s true identity, she can finally say it openly."

Tan You scoffed, clearly finding the situation deeply ironic.

Old Niu shook his head. "The minds of the Human Clan are strange and unfathomable. In any case, we can’t understand them, nor do we want to."

Tan You said, "Why bother trying to understand? They’re just irrelevant people to us. Besides, what’s the point in trying to understand others? People who try to understand others just end up being assimilated by them. There’s no need for that. It’s better to just be yourself."

As she spoke, Tan You beckoned to Qing Ming. The massive Qing Ming snake quickly transformed into a handsome, sunny-looking youth and trotted over to her.

Seeing Qing Ming’s appearance, Qinglian couldn’t help but purse his lips. "He really does look like him."

Tan You said, "Logically, he should look like you. How did he end up resembling Jing Yue? Did you pull some strings?"

"Mhm," Qinglian admitted freely. "Jing Yue was always secretive, yet arrogant. After he possessed my body, he used his own appearance in his dealings with Shi Miao."

"Later, when the little brat was born, he actually bore some resemblance to me. But after I briefly took control of Jing Yue’s body, I used a Buddhist Secret Technique to change his appearance. Coupled with the influence of that Buddhist Heart, his appearance gradually, imperceptibly, grew more and more similar to Jing Yue’s."

’This kind of cosmetic surgery...’ Tan You thought. ’If it existed in modern times, how many people would be desperate to get it? And here in the Cultivation World, it doesn’t even have any side effects.’

Qing Ming ran to Tan You’s side, uncharacteristically lively. "My lady."

Seeing his sparkling eyes, Tan You smiled. "Can you finally let it all go now?"

"Yes," Qing Ming nodded emphatically. "After truly defeating her, I realized she wasn’t as invincible as I thought. From this day on, no one can ever stand in my way again."

Tan You nodded. "In that case, let’s go. We’ve finished what we came to do today."

Bai Ze rose gracefully. "It is time to leave. We did crash the Buddhist Sect’s grand ceremony today..."

Tan You raised an eyebrow. "*I* didn’t crash it. Jing Yue and Shi Miao brought this upon themselves. Let’s go. While no one is paying attention to us, we can slip away quietly..."

Just as Tan You was about to get up, the Golden Ring Snake Emperor decided not to let her off so easily. He knew this little one disliked being in the spotlight, but this matter was too important. Today, he was determined to make a grand display.

"Little Jinzi," the Golden Ring Snake Emperor’s voice boomed just as Shi Yuan was weeping mournfully over Shi Miao’s body. Everyone tilted their heads up to the sky in unison.

Under everyone’s gaze, the fissure in the sky grew larger and larger, finally transforming into... a water mirror?

Tan You naturally saw the man on the other side of the water mirror. The moment she saw his narrow eyes, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. "Ancestor?"

"It is I," the Golden Ring Snake Emperor nodded slightly. "Little Jinzi, you have pleased me greatly. However, you have quite a talent for stirring up trouble. If I leave you in the lower realm, it will be difficult for me to intervene when needed."

Tan You’s head snapped up. ’What does he mean? Is he going to take me to the Ninth Heaven? Basically, sending me to the heavens.’ For a moment, her thoughts went off on a tangent.

The Golden Ring Snake Emperor didn’t keep her in suspense. He held out his right hand, and a golden Crown appeared in his palm. With just a single glance, Tan You quickly averted her gaze, feeling as if her eyes were about to be scorched by it.

At the same time, two beads of blood slowly trickled from the corners of Tan You’s eyes.

It wasn’t because the golden Crown was blindingly brilliant, but because it seemed to contain countless Dao rhythms. If one’s cultivation was insufficient, staring at it intently could easily destabilize one’s Dao heart.

"Little Jinzi, with your current cultivation, you are not qualified to set foot in the Ninth Heaven. But there are exceptions to every rule." The Golden Ring Snake Emperor was direct. "As a mere tenth-rank Golden Ring Snake, you indeed cannot survive in the Ninth Heaven."

"However, if you were the queen of the Golden Ring Snake Clan, and possessed the clan’s karmic fortune, then no one could say a word against you. Little Jinzi, what is your choice?"

Tan You merely quirked her lips into a slight smile. "He who wears the Crown must bear its weight. What is it you need me to do?"

"Perceptive!" The Golden Ring Snake Emperor laughed heartily. "In another ten thousand years, the Immortal Realm will hold its once-every-hundred-thousand-years grand competition between the Immortal, Demon, and Devil clans. I want you to represent the Golden Ring Snake Clan in the competition and survive it."

Tan You didn’t hesitate. "I agree. I will do everything I can to survive."